Day 51, February 20

Can you bear one more post about Emily Dickinson?  (Can you tell that when I find a subject I like, I tend to    stick with it for a while?)

Miss Dickinson was not a wealthy woman; nor was she particularly well-known during her lifetime.  Her quiet and gentle words, however, make her come alive.  She expressed love through her letters, which live on today.

"My letter as a bee, goes laden.  Please love us and remember us.  Please write us very soon, and tell us how you are ..."

Would you not love to receive such a lovely missive in your mail?  Would it not be akin to finding a rose among a bush infested with thorns to find such a thing of beauty nestled among the bills and junk mail that comprise most of our mail?

Joy for today:  send a flower of words to a friend.

Day 50, February 19

It appears that I'm not finished relating stories of Emily Dickinson.  She was a recluse but found companionship through her poetry and letters.

She penned to one friend:  "It is cold tonight, but the thought of you so warm, that I sit by it as a fireside, and am never cold any more.  I love to write to you--it gives my heart a holiday and sets the bells to ringing."

I love the simple beauty and purity of these words.  More, I love her description of friendship.

Joy for today:  reading the words of an exquisitely talented lady.

Day 49, February 18

Hand-written notes are as rare as hen's teeth these days. (Don't you love that expression--hen's teeth?  I learned it from my mother, who probably learned it from her mother.)  With email, texting, instagram, Facebook, and a host of other social media keeping us in touch, who has time for a hand-written note, carefully folded into an envelope, and sent through the mail?

I do.

Though I love the ease of email and other forms of instant communication, I also love to send and to receive cards.  Even in the 1850s, when letter writing was a common place activity, the arrival of a letter or card could still cause wonder and delight.

Upon receiving a note from a friend, Emily Dickinson wrote, " ... which came on Saturday night, when all the world was still; thank you for the love it bore me, and for its golden thoughts, and feelings so like gems, that I was sure I gathered them in whole baskets of pearls."  This extraordinary woman and poet expresses what I'd like to say when I receive a card or letter in the mail.

Joy for today:  finding beauty in hand-written words.